Elderly man has not cut hair for 70 years

July 11, 2014 | 08:40

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An old man in Tien Giang Province is locally famous for his three-metre-long hair which has never been washed in 70 years.

Man with a three-metre long hair

Nguyen Van Chien, 87, lives alone in a small house in Dau Hamlet in Chau Thanh District’s Dong Hoa Commune.

Locals gave him the nickname “strange man”, as his hair has grown to three-metres. He wears it in a tightly-rolled pile on the top of his head.

Long unwashed hair

Tidily rolled

“I kept my hair long since I was a little boy and did not have it cut until I went to school and was asked to do so by my teachers. I dropped out of school when I was 17 and have kept growing it ever since,” Chien said.

Despite his long hair, he keeps it relatively tidy in rolls, covered by a cloth hat.

Long unwashed hair

Before 1975, he moved to a pagoda in Ben Tre Province and practiced the tenets of the "Coconut Religion". It is a religion that no longer exists, but was indigenous to southern Vietnam's "Coconut Kingdom". After the region disappeared, he returned to his hometown with his wife and children, but still maintained the habit of eating vegetarian food, doing charitable works and praying for the peace of the nation and happiness of its people.

His little house

Previously, he fed himself with plain meals made from vegetables and fruits picked from his garden. However, in recent few years, he has become elderly and his children now bring him food.

“I have eaten vegetarian food since I was a young man and had only one meal before the mid-noon daily. I also practise zen daily to foster peace in my soul and improve my health,” he added.

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